Jesus' Authority in Capernaum (Luke 4:31-44).

³¹ In Luke’s gospel after being rejected in the Nazareth synagogue, Jesus goes to Capernaum, in Galilee. News about Jesus is spreading and all spoke well of him with the exception of those in Nazareth. So Jesus returns to Capernaum where he teaches on the Sabbath and those who heard were amazed. A big part of Jesus’ ministry was to teach God’s word which he did on the Sabbath in continuity with God’s purposes for Israel. However, his hearers were amazed because Jesus’ taught with authority. Jesus spoke as an expert with an experiential knowledge of God, and God’s plans and purposes. He would have been teaching in a way consistent with his liberating gospel to the poor, prisoners, blind, and the oppressed. Moreover, Jesus was proclaiming the messianic age had come, although God was temporarily suspending his judgment and was extending his grace to all who saw themselves as poor and in need of God’s grace (LK 4:1-14)!

³³ Then in the synagogue, of all places, there was a demon-possessed man. This man was welcome in the synagogue evidently an insider and was not a newcomer. He was not normally disruptive and nobody considered him peculiar or disruptive. So this demon inhabited this man and was undetected until Jesus entered the synagogue. In the presence of Jesus the demon now evokes the man to cry out. In a loud voice, the man cries out in a loud voice, ³⁴ “What do you want Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you are—the Holy One of God!”

The demon knows exactly who Jesus of Nazareth is and has a pretty good idea about what Jesus came to do. The man under the demons influence or the demon through the man recognizes Jesus the man and knows or otherwise suspects that Jesus has come to destroy him and the man under demonic influence knows that Jesus is the “Holy One of God!” The demon wants to know what Jesus wants and why Jesus was there (1 John 3). Surely the demons are aware that Jesus has overcome Satan’s temptations and that Jesus has come to destroy, not the gentiles, but the demonic evil that is oppressing people.

³⁵ Jesus tells the ‘unclean spirit’ to be quiet and come out; and that is exactly what the demon did. The demon throws the man down without injuring him, evidently the man is being protected by Jesus. Now free from this ‘unclean demonic spirit’ ³⁶ surely the man was happy and we are told that the people were amazed. They express their amazement by asking, “What is this teaching? With authority he orders evil spirits and they come out!” ³⁷ Now as a result of this, the news about Jesus spreads throughout the area. What is the result of the event?

Jesus leaves the synagogue and people throughout the area are talking about Jesus’ teaching with authority and that demonic spirits have to do what he says. ³⁸ Jesus goes to the home of Simon Peter where Simon’s mother-in-law is suffering from a high fever. They asked Jesus to help her. Jesus bends over Simon’s mother-in-law, rebukes the fever and the fever leaves. She gets ups and begins to wait on them. Jesus rebukes the fever, and the fever leaves and Simon’s mother-in-law is and immediately she begins to serve the Lord and his future disciple Simon Peter.  

⁴⁰ The word on Jesus is out; come sunset all kinds of sick people are brought to Jesus and he lays hands on them and they’re healed. ⁴¹ Demons are coming out of many people; and they’re shouting, “You are the Son of God!” Jesus rebukes them since they know that Jesus is the Christ. However, this is not the kind of advertising Jesus is interested in. Moreover, Jesus has a lot of work to do to reprogram his disciples’ wrong ideas about who Messiah is and what he came to do. In time Jesus will make his Messianic identity known but for now he won’t let the word out, particularly coming from demonic spirits.

⁴² At daybreak Jesus heads off for solitary place. Yet, the people go looking for Jesus and when they find him they try to prevent him from leaving. ⁴³ Surely they want him to stay and do more healings, but Jesus said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, for this is why I was sent.” ⁴⁴ So Jesus goes on a preaching tour of the synagogues of Judea where he proclaims the ‘good news’ of his ‘Kingdom of God movement’!  

Jesus in Nazereth (Luke 4:14-30).

Jesus' Sermon in his hometown synagogue in Nazereth:

The Spirit of the Lord had come upon Jesus at his baptism. The voice from heaven confirmed that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus had returned from overcoming devil’s temptations and from doing miracles in Capernaum (Lk 4:23). News about Jesus is spreading and people are praising him for his teachings. In his hometown synagogue, he reads scripture and claims that they are fulfilled in their hearing (Lk 4:21). Isaiah 61 was familiar to his hearers, but for them but his interpretation and application was unacceptable. They run him out of town and try to throw him over a cliff. Why were they so disturbed?

The devil had tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the temple to prove his ‘sonship’. The devil wanted Jesus to provoke Jesus to prove that he was trusting God to rescue him. But, Jesus refused to put the Lord his God to the test. Now before his home synagogue, Jesus launches his public ministry. However, what he proclaimed didn’t conform to their expectation of what Messiah should do!  Luke makes it clear at the beginning of his gospel that the rejection of Jesus is all part of God’s plan. In this story God validates Jesus’ identity by rescuing Jesus from the angry mob. They sought to throw Jesus from a cliff to his death, but Jesus walks unharmed through the angry crowd to continues on his way (Lk 4:10-12, Ps. 91:11-12).

God validates Jesus’ public ministry by rescuing him from the angry mod. But did they have such an angry violent reaction? Jesus’ hearers listen while he read Isaiah 61 and were amazed by his words. Some said of Jesus, ‘isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ Jesus reacts by telling them they’ll say, ‘physician heal yourself’. Then Jesus claims that a prophet is not welcome in his hometown (Lk 4:24) and illustrates his point with references to Elijah and Elisha. God sent Elijah to a widow from Sidon and Elisha cleansed Naaman, a Syrian General (1 Kgs.17, 2 Kgs 5). These two outsiders, a Sidonian widow and a leader of Israel’s enemies receive God’s favor while Israelites are overlooked!

Many in Jesus’ day understood Isaiah 61 as a text that promised that God would liberate Israel from their pagan enemies. They expected God to rescue Israel and condemn their gentile oppressors. Yet, Jesus left out the part of Isaiah 61 which talks about ‘the day of vengeance of our God’. The passage also speaks of Israel feeding ‘on the wealth of nations’ (Isaiah 61:2, 6). Moreover, Jesus references God sending Elijah and Elisha to bless those outside of Israel. Jesus indicated that God would suspend his vengeance and extend his grace even to Israel’s enemies. Evidently, they were so offended by the idea of God’s grace for outsiders that they ran Jesus out of the synagogue and even sought to kill him!

By saying that he was fulfilling Isaiah 61, Jesus meant that he was the Messiah and that he was bringing liberation for the poor, for prisoners, for the blind, for the oppressed and that he was ushering in God’s ultimate ‘Jubilee’! They expected grace for Israel and judgment on their oppressors, but Jesus’ reading of Isaiah 61 meant mercy even to Israel’s enemies. Jesus as a prophet was not accepted in his hometown and they even sought to kill him. Jesus stated that Elijah had passed by many widows in Israel to provide for widow in Sidon. Jesus also said that Elisha overlooked many lepers in Israel while cleansing Naaman the Syrian. They were furious and they drove Jesus out of town. They drove him up the hill to throw him down to his death. God enabled Jesus to walk right through the crowd on his way (4:27-30).

The Spirit of the Lord ‘anointed’ Jesus at his baptism and the heavenly voice identified Jesus as Isaiah’s prophesied coming Messiah. Jesus identified with John’s baptism and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to overcome the devil’s temptations. Afterwards, in Nazareth Jesus goes public but was opposed because he said the opposite of what they were expected the Messiah to do. They kick Jesus out of the synagogue, run him out of town, and try to throw him off a cliff! Jesus identified with Elijah being sent to help a singular gentile widow—and with Elisha cleansing one solitary gentile leper. In their minds Jesus was portraying Israel’s God as rescuing the wrong people. They wanted God to pour out His wrath on their enemies, so they were astonished at Jesus’ words of grace. What they wanted was grace for Israel and judgment for everyone else. According to Jesus, Messiah had come not to inflict punishment on gentiles. Jesus was extending God’s love and mercy to all who were poor and in need of liberation. We must be careful for Jesus may not validate our expectations because God rescues all outsiders who come to Jesus in need of God’s amazing grace.

Temptation Overcome! (Luke 4:1-13)

Luke 4:1-13¹ Jesus identified himself with John’s ‘baptism of repentance’. The Spirit ‘anointed him’ and the voice from heaven confirmed Jesus to be the 'Son of God' .  Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, moved out from Jordan, where Israel had originally entered their "Promised Land". Jesus is going back into Israel’s story and back into the wilderness. ² For a period of 40 days Jesus would face the devil’s temptations. Israel had wandered 40 years because of their unbelief, but now Jesus was going to get it right. Jesus, a real man, is famished after 40 days without food. Jesus is tired, hungry, dirty, sweaty, and in his physically weakness he faces the devil and his accusations. 

³ The devil brings Jesus’ identity and ‘Sonship’ into question. “If you are the Son of God” challenges what the voice from heaven had affirmed. The devil tells Jesus to command a stone to become bread as a way of meeting his own need and proving that Jesus really was the ‘Son of God’. ⁴ Here, as in Eden with Adam, the devil brings into question the good intention of God. Why is God withholding good from you if you are the ‘Son of God’? Jesus trusts God’s good intention and trusts God’s good intention that ‘man does not live on bread alone’ (Deut.8:3). Adam, on the other hand, believed the devil’s lie (Gen.3:4). Israel in the wilderness also failed to trust God’s good intention. They grumbled that they were better off in Egypt and they complained that God was going to kill them in the wilderness (Exodus 16-17).

Why is God treating Jesus like this if he is 'God's Son and Israel’s Messiah? The devil tempts Jesus to turn a stone to bread in order to meet his legitimate physical need? Hadn't God provided Israel ‘ manna’ in the wilderness? Yet, Jesus tells the devil that it is written, "that man does not live by bread alone" (Deut.8:3). In his need, his deprivation and his hunger Jesus trusted God and His word and refused to take matters into his own hands. Jesus finds no need to prove his ‘sonship’, but trusts God’s word.

⁵ The devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and all their authority and glory. ⁶ Man had forfeited this authority when he aligned himself with the devil in opposition to God in Eden. In a sense, the devil took man’s authority over this world away from him. These are the devil’s kingdoms and he can give them to whoever he wants. ⁷ The kingdoms to be recovered by the Messiah where still under the devil’s dominion. So the devil presents an easy alternative to God’s plan and offers a way of avoiding the struggle. He presents God as a ‘harsh taskmaster’ for all the devil requires is worship. Jesus is tempted to gain ‘authority and glory’ over the nations not by trusting God, but by submitting to Satan in worship. All Jesus had to do was to worship and submit himself to the dominion of Satan. Jesus trusts the goodness of God’s way and relies on God and His word as the only viable option for the ‘Son of God’. Adam believed the lie and aligned himself with the devil and Israel sought to return to Egypt. They failed to trust God’s good purpose, but Jesus said, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. (Deut.6:13, Ex.20:3)’ ”

The devil takes Jesus to Jerusalem and sets him on the highest point of the temple. Again the devil brings Jesus’ identity into question. According to Satan, if Jesus wants to reclaim the nations and be God’s king by trusting God’s word then Jesus should put his faith in action. The devil says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, ¹⁰ for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels to guard you, ¹¹ they will bear you up with their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” The devil tempts Jesus to throw himself down from the temple and prove that the word of God is true. ¹⁰ For, as the devil said,“He will command his angels concerning you, ¹¹ they will lift you up with their hands, and you won’t strike your foot against a stone. (Ps.91)"

The devil tempts Jesus to put the validity of God’s word to the test by jumping from the temple so that God would send angels to miraculously hold Jesus up.  ¹² |Yet, Jesus answers the devil’s use of scripture by saying that it is not Jesus’ role to put the Lord God to the test. Jesus’ answer with scripture and says, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” ¹³ Now the devil postpones his temptations for a more opportune time. ¹⁴ So Jesus returns to Galilee, empowered and victorious over Satan at this point, and so the name and reputation of Jesus begins to spread.

The anointed Jesus, ‘God’s Son’ was sent into the wilderness to directly confront the enemy of God and his people. The first temptation (3–4) urged Jesus to (3:22) to perform an act of power to satisfy his hunger. Jesus responded by quoting the scripture. Then (5–8) Jesus was enabled to see the glory and the extent of the devil's dominion (Jn. 12:31). The world doesn’t ultimately belong to the devil; but if Jesus gives in to the devil’s lies than Jesus would have fallen like Adam. To align himself with the devil would be incompatible with serving God alone (Dt. 6:13). Finally (9–12), the devil tried to quote scripture (Ps. 91:11–12) to tempt Jesus to leap down from the highest point of the temple as a demonstration of Jesus’ trust in his Father. But to yield to the suggestion would have been to doubt that he was really God’s Son and that his Father was trustworthy. 

If Jesus is to be Israel’s Messiah, then how will he deliver Israel, and the world, from the grip of the enemy? How can he liberate the world from the devil himself? Jesus responds to the devil by quoting scripture from the story of Israel’s failures in the wilderness. Where Israel failed Jesus is going to overcome and become the world’s true lord. Yet, the path to kingship and dominion is humble service in submission to God and His word! God’s Son, Jesus, commits himself to the path of humility, service and even death on a cross. Jesus overcame the devil's temptation on behalf of every Christian. Now it is our plaee to stand by faith in Christ and reist by putting the truth to the devil’s lies. Resistance is found in relying on God’s love for us as stated in God’s word whenever our ‘identity in Christ’ is questioned by our circumstances and by the devil’s lies.

John's Baptism (Luke 3:1-22).

John's Baptism of Repentance

¹ Tiberius Caesar was the Roman Emperor and he was even worshipped as a ‘god’ in parts of the Empire.  Israel was in their land but they were forced to live under Roman rule. Rome had put Pontius Pilate in charge in Judea. ‘Herod the Great’ who was appointed by Rome as King in Israel was dead and his territory was divided among four rulers. Herod and his sons were illegitimate Jews and Roman collaborators. Herod Antipas oversaw Galilee and his brother, Philip, was in charge of Iturea and Traconitis. ² Annas and Caiaphas were from the same priestly family and were the High Priests appointed by Rome.

Into a world entrenched with Roman oppressors and Jewish collaborators with Rome came God’s word. The word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness around the Jordan River. John’s message is symbolically connected to Israel’s wilderness wandering and their crossing the Jordan River. These symbols depict Israel’s need for a new beginning or a ‘New Exodus’ in order to take possession of their ‘Promised Land’.

So Israel comes out to the wilderness around the Jordan River to hear John preach his ‘baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins’ ⁴ in preparation for the coming Lord. The quoting of Isaiah 40 indicates that a total upheaval of the present landscape was needed to make straight paths for the coming return of the Lord. ⁵ Valleys were to be filled in and mountains were to be leveled. The crooked and rough roads were to be made straight and smooth ⁶ and all people would see God’s salvation. This was consistent with Simeon’s vision of the infant Jesus as ‘God’s salvation for all people’.  

⁷ John calls for baptism depicting the need for the forgiveness of sins and the need for genuine repentance. Moreover, John warns those coming to him for hypocritical reasons by calling them snakes and questioning why they were fleeing the coming wrath. ⁸ Preparation for the coming Lord would require fruit consistent with ‘true repentance’ and no mere claim to being a physical descent of Abraham. Claiming to be a child of Abraham would not protect one from God’s judgment. God was able to raise up from the stones ‘children for Abraham’.

⁹ From John’s perspective the axe was already at the roots; so that those not producing fruit would be cut down and thrown in the fire. In other words, the judgment of God is near, and John’s was an urgent call to life transformation. ¹⁰ The crowds asked John what they were to do and he said those with extra clothes and food were to share it with those in need. Those common poor people living in relative poverty where to pool their resources and care for one another.  

² Those tax collectors who were considered Roman collaborators where not to use their positions to exploit their fellow Jews. John did not say forsake their occupations, but he did say do not collect more than was required. They were not take advantage of vulnerable people. They were no to benefit at the expense of the poor oppressed Israelites.  In the same way ¹⁴ soldiers were not to force people to give them money or falsely accuse people. Rather the soldiers were to be content with their pay.

¹⁵ People wondered if the bold prophet was the Christ. However, John humbly confessed that that the Christ was coming after him adn that that he was not fit to untie his sandals. John’s baptism symbolized cleansing, but the one coming would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ He would bring the repentant into union with God and gather the wheat and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. ¹⁸ John preached the ‘good news’ to the people, but he spoke out against Herod for taking his brother’s wife. ²⁰ Herod was no genuine king of the Jews and he added to his lawlessness by having John locked up in prison.

John Baptizes Jesus

John the Baptist message was ‘good news’ of  the return of God. The word of God breaks into a world under Roman dominion. The sons of Herod the Great’s were ruling under Rome and they were neither benevolent nor faithful Jews. The high priests were also appointed by Rome and weren’t much better. John brought a ‘word from God’ telling people to gather in wilderness by the Jordan for a ‘New Exodus’. This would require a radical reorientation of the present order; a genuine turning to God from the heart. ‘Return to me, and I will return to you’ (Malachi 3:7). Isaiah had talked about preparing the way for the Lord and John’s was a prepatory baptism of cleansing. Yet, John was calling Israel to a change of heart. 

This was no mere confession that one was one of Abraham’s children. In the coming kingdom people would care for one another and share what they had. Tax-collectors were not to take more than was required and soldiers (Herod’s troops) were not to abuse their power.and take advantage of people. John was pointing to the coming Messianic king of the Jews, who would bring God’s blessing and justice to the world. This was ‘good news’ for the people, but correction for Herod. By contrast to both Caesar and Herod Antipas, this coming king would restore God’s presence among God’s repentant people. He would baptize with the Spirit, gather his wheat and burn up the chaff. Ironically, this coming king identified with those needing John’s baptism, and he was ‘anointed’ by the Spirit and confirmed to be the ‘Son of God’ by the voice from heaven; King Jesus our Lord! 

The Boy in the Temple (Lk 2:41-52)

The Backstory: God had promised Abraham multiple descendants and a homeland to bless the world (Genesis 12:1-3, 15, 17). His descendants ended up enslaved in Egypt, but God rescued them through Moses and they began their conquest of their 'promised land' under Joshua and they took full possession of it under Israel’s king, David. They were to be God’s ‘holy nation’ (Exodus 19:4-6) and yet, instead of being a ‘light to the nations’ they became idolatrous like the other nations. The nation was divided, the North was scattered and the Southern kingdom were taken into Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Because God was determined to bless the world through Abraham and make a ‘Son of David’ king over God’s people forever (2 Samuel 7:12-14) they returned to their land under the Persians. However, they remained dominated in their own land and at the time of the Roman Empire they were longing for God to send a ‘conquering king’ to liberate them (Isaiah 42:1-9, 61:1-3)! 

The Boy Jesus in the Temple (LK  2:41-52)

⁴¹ We next find Jesus attending the Passover festival in Jerusalem with his parents when he’s 12 years old. Mary and Joseph were faithful to the law and they raised Jesus to be a faithful Jew. ⁴³ After the feast, they set out with their group of friends and family to return to Galilee. Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn’t realize it until had traveled for a day.  They would have been among a large group friends and relatives and felt that Jesus was safely among them without having Jesus next to them.

⁴⁵ Once they realize Jesus wasn’t among them, they return to Jerusalem without their extended group. They frantically search Jerusalem and they were unable to find him for three days. ⁴⁶ Finally, they look in the temple where they find Jesus in the temple asking the teachers various questions. ⁴⁷ Those listening to the exchange were amazed at his understanding.

⁴⁸ They’re probably worried and scared so when they see him in the temple among the teachers, his mother says, “Son, why have you treated us like this? We’ve been looking for you.” ⁴⁹ Jesus is surprised that they didn’t know that he had to be in his Father’s house. ⁵⁰ They fail to understand him, ⁵¹ but Mary treasured these things up in her heart.  ⁵² Then they return to Nazareth and Jesus grew in wisdom and in favor with God and people.

Jewish men were required to attend all three annual festivals in Jerusalem, but only the Passover was strictly observed. Joseph took his wife annually, and they brought Jesus when he was twelve years of old. At 12  a Jewish boy would normally be instructed and could entry the religious community. After they celebrated the feast, Mary and Joseph left with their group of extended family and friends. Yet, Jesus had stayed behind, so they return to Jerusalem without their group.

At Passover time, the city of 25,000 would swell with up to a 100,000 visitors. Jerusalem would become a potentially scary place with plenty of soldiers, traders and other strangers there. Mary and Joseph’s three day search ends with Jesus among the teachers in the temple. Mary blames Jesus, but Jesus gently rebukes his mother saying, ‘I had to be in my father’s house.’ Even at that early age Jesus’ relationship with God  was his priority. They didn’t understand him, but Jesus was careful to obey his parents. His comments were beyond their understanding, but ary treasured it up in her heart.

In Luke's gospel the Temple is central. Zechariah had his vision in the temple. Simeon and Anna, find Jesus in the temple and here Jesus is in the temple discussing things with the teachers of the law. Moreover, Luke's travel narrative will progress towards the Jerusalem Temple (9:51-19:48). Then, after Jesus' resurrection and ascencion Luke’s gospel will end with the disciples in the Temple praising God at the dawn of a new age (24:50-53). 

The Infant in the Temple (LK 2:22-40)

The Backstory: God had promised Abraham multiple descendants and a homeland to bless the world (Genesis 12:1-3, 15, 17). His descendants ended up enslaved in Egypt, but God rescued them through Moses. They took full possession of their land under Israel’s king, David. They were to be God’s ‘holy nation’ (Exodus 19:4-6) and yet, instead of being a ‘light to the nations’ they became idolatrous like the other nations. The nation was divided, the North was scattered and the Southern kingdom were taken into Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Because God was determined to bless the world through Abraham and make a ‘Son of David’ king over God’s people forever (2 Samuel 7:12-14) they returned to their land under the Persians. However, they remained dominated in their own land and at the time of the Roman Empire they were longing for God to send a ‘conquering king’ to liberate them (Isaiah 42:1-9, 61:1-3)! 

The Infant Jesus in the Temple (LK  2:22-40)

²¹ Jesus’ parents were faithful to circumcise Jesus on the eighth day. They follow the purification procedure as stated in the Law. They are faithful to name their child, Jesus, the name given them by the angel Gabriel. Jesus is the Greek version of Joshua. In a sense, Jesus is the new version of Joshua, who will lead ‘true Israel’ into the fulfillment of God’s promises. Mary and Joseph’s obedience to ‘the Law’ led them to the Jerusalem temple, the dwelling-place of God among his people. They dedicated their firstborn at the temple according to the Law and they offered a sacrifice acceptable for poor people. 

²⁵ Then we find the elderly Simeon, who has been led by the Spirit into the temple courtyard and to Mary and Joseph. Simeon was waiting for the ‘consolation of Israel’. The Spirit was upon Simeon and had told him that he would see the Lord’s Christ before he died. So the Spirit led Simeon to the temple and to Jesus. ²⁸ Simeon takes the infant Jesus in his arms and sees in Jesus, the ‘Lord’s salvation’ which has been prepared by God in the sight of all people. Now Simeon says he can pass away in peace for he sees Jesus as the savior ³¹ of all people; ³² and a ‘light to Gentiles’ and ‘glory of Israel’.”

³³ Mary and Joseph knew what Gabriel had told them about Jesus, but here they’re amazed that Simeon has this knowledge. ³⁴Simeon blesses the family and tells Mary directly that the child will cause the ‘rise and fall’ of many in Israel and that many will speak against the child. ³⁵ Mary’s child will ‘reveal the thoughts of many’ and a sword will pierce Mary’s soul as well. 

³⁶ Then an extremely elderly prophetess, Anna, approaches the couple. Anna worships in the temple continually. ³⁸ Seeing the child see thanks God and speaks about the child to those in the temple court who were waiting for Jerusalem to be liberated. ³⁹ Joseph and Mary do what ‘the Law’ requires and return home to Nazareth in Galilee. ⁴⁰ The child Jesus grew, became strong and was blessed by God’s grace.

"Outside the Box" (Luke 1, Gen.15)

As a kid I can remember driving around the neighbourhood looking at the Christmas decorations and singing Christmas songs with my family. We sang about ‘Santa Claus making his list and checking twice to find out who’s ‘naughty or nice’. The implication was good behaviour merited ‘good gifts’. Unfortunately,  the ‘Little Town of Bethlehem’ and the ‘Little Lord Jesus’ weren’t central to my understanding of Christmas.

What did a Jewish baby born 2000 years ago who would be executed on a ‘Roman cross’ have to do with me? However, for me, the message of the ‘life, death and resurrection of Jesus was meaningless. Then, in my mid-20s, God gave me a ‘new heart and put a new spirit’ in me. He ‘removed my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh’ (Ezekiel 36:25-27). Ironically, lyrics like, “Remember, Christ, our Saviour was born on Christmas day, To save us all from Satan's power, When we were gone astray… meant something to me for the first time.  

Lyrics such as…”Offspring of a Virgin's womb, Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity, Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel” from “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” stretched my mind and opened my imagination. (See John 1:14)

Later, as a seminary student I was asked, ‘where was Jesus when he was born?’ My answer was in ‘a manger in Bethlehem of Judea, in ancient Israel’.  “And anywhere else”, I was asked.  I and the others with me were confused. Then our Professor explained that the ‘second person of the Trinity’ did not lose His divine attributes and become less than God by changing into a man. The incarnation was an act of addition, in which God added to himself a fully human body and soul. He did this without ceasing to be God. So Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man at the same time, and that was true even in the manger.

So while Jesus was lying in the manger, ‘heaven and earth could not contain him’. Mary could hold the ‘baby Jesus’, while he was holding the world together by the word of his power. He could cry for comfort, while being adored by ‘all the heavenly hosts’. John Calvin put it like this, ‘Christ left heaven without ever leaving heaven’. This is the meaning in the song: Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity.

But why would God do this? Why would God take humanity upon himself? An important answer to this question is contained in the very first Christmas SONGS. In the ‘Magnificat’, which Mary sang a song of praise after being given the promise of a child who would be the ‘Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32) At the heart of Mary’s song is the promise that God made to their ancestors, to Abraham and his children. Then, Zechariah, after naming his son John, as instructed by the angel Gabriel, praises the Lord who had remembered his holy covenant, the oath he swore to Abraham. So to understand Christmas and the incarnation, then we’ll need to know something of God’s covenant with Abraham.

Mary’s Song (Luke 1:54–55 NLT) ⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. ⁵⁵ For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.”

Zechariah’s Song: Luke 1:72–73 (NIV84) ⁷² to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, ⁷³ the oath he swore to our father Abraham. (God's Covenant with Abraham Gen. 15)

¹ The Lord speaks to Abraham roughly 10 years after he first arrived in Canaan. God had promised to make Abraham into a great nation, but Abraham childless and his servant was his heir. ³ The Lord promises Abraham that a son from his own body would be his heir. ⁵ He shows Abraham the stars telling him, “So shall your offspring be”. ⁶ Abraham believes and the Lord counts it to Abraham as righteousness. ⁷ Then the LORD reminds Abraham of the promise of the ‘land’ ⁸ and Abraham wants assurance. ⁹ So the Lord has Abraham cut some animals in half and he arranges the pieces across from one another. ¹² Then as the sun set, God tells Abraham that after being ‘enslaved in a foreign country’ in the fourth generation Abraham’s descendants would possess their land ¹⁵ and Abraham would rest with fathers in his old age. Then ¹⁷ a ‘smoking firepot with a blazing torch’ appeared and passed through the pieces. ¹⁸ We are told that the Lord “made or cut a covenant with Abraham” promising Abraham’s descendants the ‘land, from the river of Egypt to the  river, Euphrates’.

The ceremony bound the parties together and the animal carcasses depicted the ‘curse upon the party who breaks the covenant’. What ironic is that ‘Abram falls into some kind of a deep dream-like trance and only the manifestation of God who passes through the pieces’. If God fails to keep the covenant, then God would have to die? This point being that God would fulfill the covenant or He would have to cease being God. The curse of the covenant is symbolically represented at the inauguration of the ‘covenant bond’. Ironically, to bear the curse God would have to become a man. This is exactly what God did in the incarnation of Jesus.  He became a man to bear the curse of covenant. Moreover, in the ‘better new covenant in Christ’ at the inauguration of the covenant we have, not a symbolic death, but the actual death of Christ. In other words, the curse of the ‘covenant breaker’ came upon Christ at the ‘inauguration of the better new covenant’. 

This is the heart of Christmas. The Apostle Paul tells us to ‘consider how Abraham believed God’ and he tells us that ‘those who believe in Jesus are children of Abraham.’ ⁸ Moreover, Paul sees the promises to Abraham as the “gospel in advance to Abraham: All nations will be blessed through you” (Gen. 15, Galatians 3:6–8). Paul tells us that “those who belong to Christ are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29)

God's Anointed is Born (Luke 2:1-21).

Backstory: God had promised Abraham multiple descendants and a homeland to bless the world (Genesis 12:1-3, 15, 17). His descendants ended up enslaved in Egypt, but God rescued them through Moses. They took full possession of their land under Israel’s king, David. They were to be God’s ‘holy nation’ (Exodus 19:4-6) and yet, instead of being a ‘light to the nations’ they became idolatrous like the other nations. The nation was divided, the North was scattered and the Southern kingdom were taken into Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Because God was determined to bless the world through Abraham and make a ‘Son of David’ king over God’s people forever (2 Samuel 7:12-14) they returned to their land under the Persians. However, they remained dominated in their own land and at the time of the Roman Empire they were longing for God to send a ‘conquering king’ to liberate them (Isaiah 42:1-9, 61:1-3)! 

What does this story tell us about Caesar Augustus? ¹ We are told that Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor, issued a census be taken of the entire Roman Empire. Caesar Augustus simply issued a decree and everyone’s life was radically disrupted. Everyone had to return to their ancestral homelands in order to be registered in order to build Caesar’s empire by taxing the common folk under Caesar’s reign.

What so we learn about Joseph and Mary and Mary’s son? ⁴ Joseph's life was altered by the census so that he had to travel from Nazareth in Galilee to the Judean town of Bethlehem. Joseph went to Bethlehem, because he was from the line and town of Israel’s King David. Joseph took Mary to whom he was pledged to marry and who was expecting a child. The visitation of an angel had convinced Joseph to marry her since the child was from the Holy Spirit (Mt.1:20). So Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem to be registered and ⁶ while they were in Bethlehem of Judea, Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a son (Luke 8:19-20, Acts 1:14). Mary, a common peasant woman, wrapped this 'royal baby of supernatural origin' in cloth and laid him in an ‘animal feeding trough’ because there was no special guest room available for him.

⁸Now there were shepherds nearby Bethlehem who were watching over their flocks at night when an angel appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. The angel reassured the terrified shepherds that he was bringing good news of great joy for all people. The ‘good news’ was that in the town of David a Savior, Christ the Lord, had been born. This child was God's promised anointed king; the Son of David’. This newborn child was in fact the ‘Savior and the Lord' and the arrival of Israel’s Messianic King was ‘good news for all people (2 Sam.7:12-14).  

¹² The angel said that the sign for shepherds was that they would find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger. Then a great company of angelic being appeared saying, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth on those on whom his favor rests.” ¹⁵ Then when the angels left, the shepherds went off to Bethlehem to see what the Lord had told them about. There they found Mary and Joseph, and the baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger. ¹⁷ This was the sign told them by the angel and therefore the shepherds spread the news they had been told about the child. Now everyone who heard this was amazed, ¹⁹ and Mary treasured this in her heart. Then the shepherds returned to their fields, glorifying and praising God!

The story contrasts God’s Messiah, God’s savior and Lord, with the Roman emperor, Augustus Caesar, at the height of his power. Augustus, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, was the first and greatest Roman ruler who took control after a great and bloody civil war. After Augustus conquered his rivals he claimed to have brought justice and peace to the world. Augustus declared his dead adoptive father to be divine making Augustus the ‘son of god’. In the Roman Empire story it is Augustus who is considered the ‘lord of the world’.  

Now, by contrast, this story tells us of a baby born to a ‘lowly couple’ in an insignificant Israelite town. However, according to scripture, this child was the promised ‘Son of God’. While Augustus was building his empire at the expense of the ‘common people’ and yet God used these circumstances to reveal the world’s true ‘Savior’ and ‘Lord’. It is this child that brings true justice and lasting peace into the world. Augustus issues a decree and the empire is rearranged so that Jesus ends up being born in the ancestral town of Israel king David. This child is the beginning of a confrontation between God’s kingdom and the kingdoms of this world. The story challenges us to align ourselves with one of two different ways of being king and two alternative kingdoms. The story presents this ‘vulnerable child wrapped in cloth and laying in a manger’ as ‘God’ King’ whose kingdom is in direct opposition with the kingdoms of this world.  

Gabriel's Gospel to Mary (Lk 1:26-56)

Backstory: God had called Abraham and had promised him multiple descendants and a homeland to bless the world (Genesis 12:1-3, 15, and 17). His descendant ended up in Egypt for 400 years and became enslaved. God rescued them through Moses and brought into their homeland under Joshua, though they didn’t fully possess it until God made David Israel’s king. They were to be God’s ‘treasured possession’ and be God’s ‘holy nation’ (Exodus 19:4-6). However, instead of being a ‘light to the nations’ they became idolatrous like the other nations. The Northern kingdom was defeated and scattered by the Assyrians and later the Southern kingdom was taken into Babylonian captivity. God restored them to their land after 70 years because God was determined to bless the world through Abraham and make a ‘Son of David’ king over God’s people forever (2 Samuel 7:12-14). They returned to their land under the Persians, but they remained dominated in their own land. Then at the time of the Roman Empire they were longing for God to send a ‘conquering king’ to liberate them and God sent them Jesus (Isaiah 42:1-9, 61:1-3)!  

²⁶ We are told that in Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnant, the Lord sends the angel Gabriel, who had told Zechariah that he would have a ‘great son’ who would go before the Lord and prepare a people for the Lord’. Now Gabriel is sent to Nazareth of all places; an insignificant place and of ‘poor reputation’ (John 1:46). Moreover, Gabriel goes ²⁷ to an ‘unknown girl from this insignificant village’ and she’s a virgin somewhere between 12-14 years old and her name is Mary.²⁸ The angel greets Mary calling her ‘highly favored’ and telling her that the ‘Lord is with her’. ²⁹ This troubled Mary and she wondered about the meaning since she’s not used to thinking of herself in such ‘blessed’ terms. ³⁰ The angel assures Mary’s that need not be afraid for she had ‘found favor with God’. ³¹ Then Gabriel tells her that she would have a son, to be named Jesus, and that her ³² great son would be called the ‘Son of the Most High’. In addition the Lord God would give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s house forever with no end to his kingdom. 

Now Mary responds with faith, but she wants to know how this is going to happen since she is a virgin. ³⁵ The angel says this will be the work of God’s Holy Spirit and that this would come about when the ‘power of the Most High’ would overshadow Mary. As a result, the ‘holy child’ to be born to Mary would be the very ‘Son of God’. ³⁶ Mary wanted to know how this was going to happen. She didn’t ‘doubt’ and she wasn’t asking for a ‘sign’ or ‘for proof’, but Gabriel gives her something to follow-up on. Gabriel tells Mary that her elderly and ‘barren’ relative, Elizabeth, would have a child in her old age. She could check it out because Elizabeth was already in her sixth month of pregnancy. The inevitable explanation or conclusion to all this was that ³⁷ ‘nothing is impossible with God’.

³⁸ This makes Mary the ideal example of New Testament faith! She sees herself as the ‘Lord’s servant’ and she wants God’s will done in her life. She embraces God’s will and she does so knowing that others would doubt her story and would consider the child to have been conceived out of wedlock. She answers Gabriel saying, “May it be to me as you have said!” Mary’s reaction to Gabriel’s announcement is very different than Zechariah reaction to his ‘good news’ about his son through Elizabeth. Zechariah wanted to be assured since he and Elizabeth were elderly. However, Zechariah as a priest and he would have known scripture well. God had the womb of Samson’s mother and had also opened Hannah’s womb. Also Hannah’s son, Samuel, was a prophet who ‘anointed David King of Israel’ which in a way prefigured what John would do for Jesus. Moreover, Israel had come into existence through the barren Sarah, who gave birth to Isaac when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90. Zechariah should have none that this was ‘not impossible for God’.

On the other hand, Mary was an illiterate girl from the village. She would have heard these stories in the Synagogue, and she believed the angel’s announcement. However, nothing like a ‘virgin’ birth had ever happened or would ever happen again. She believed, but she needed addition explanation and once she received it she accepted as God’s will for her life, no matter what hardship may have resulted. So after Gabriel’s explanation she headed off to find Elizabeth. ⁴¹ Upon arrival Mary greets Elizabeth, and at the sound of Mary’s voice the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and she goes into ecstatic praise of God.

We are given this incredible picture of John, in Elizabeth’s womb, jumping for joy. We also see the Spirit of God filling Elizabeth and producing joy in the child in her womb. Ironically, her husband’s mouth had been closed but the Spirit fills Elizabeth enabling her to proclaim in a loud voice that ‘Mary was blessed’ and that Mary’s ‘child was blessed’. But even more amazing is Elizabeth’s question as to why she is so favored that the mother of Elizabeth’s Lord would come to her? There is this amazing picture of the ‘Spirit-filled’ baby John in Elizabeth’s womb worshiping the ‘Messiah Jesus’ who is in his Mother’s womb as well. With Zechariah’s unbelief in the background Elizabeth tells Mary, ⁴⁵ “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said will be accomplished!”

The 'Gospel to Zechariah' (Luke 1:5-25)

Backstory: God had called Abraham and had promised him multiple descendants and a homeland to bless the world (Genesis 12:1-3, 15, and 17). Then went down into Egypt for 400 years and became enslaved. God rescued them through Moses and brought into their homeland under Joshua, but they didn’t take full possession of it until God made David king over Israel. They were to obey God’s covenant and they would be God’s ‘treasured possession’ and God’s ‘holy nation’ (Exodus 19:4-6). But instead of being a ‘light to the nations’ they became idolatrous like the other nations. They were divided and the Northern kingdom was defeated and scattered by the Assyrians (722). Later, Southern kingdom was taken into Babylonian captivity for 70 years (586). God preserved them due to His promise to bless the world through Abraham and His promise to David of a perpetual kingship over God’s people (2 Samuel 7:12-14). They returned to the their land under Persian rule but their return from Exile never lived up to the glory prophesied by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. They remained dominated in their land by first the Persians, then the Greeks and at the time of the Roman Empire they were longing for God to send a ‘conquering king’ liberate them from Roman rule and God sent them Jesus (Isaiah 42:1-9, 61:1-3)!  

Luke 1:5–25

⁵ Herod was king of Judea and he was known as ‘Herod the Great’. Herod was ‘great’ in the sense that he was a ‘great builder’ and his greatest project was his renovation of the Jerusalem Temple. Herod did this to validate his ‘kingship’, but Herod was an Idumean (descendant of Esau) and he wasn’t really even a ‘Jew’. Herod was a ‘great builder’ and a ‘great tyrant’, but Herod was not faithful to YHWH. He may have been called ‘Herod the great’ but he was not ‘great before the Lord’.

So Herod was no valid ‘King of the Jews’ for he was a descendant of Esau and not Jacob (Malachi 1:2-3). So Herod was a great builder, a great tyrant, and great impostor; and great friend of Rome, and of course he rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple (which was a great achievement) but that did not legitimize his ‘Kingship’ for he was not great before God.

At that time, there was a priest named Zechariah. Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, were both from the ‘line of Aaron’ and so Zechariah was a genuine priest. Aaron was Israel’s first High Priest and Aaron was the brother of Moses. Moses, of course, was God’s great deliverer of Israel who rescued Abraham’s descendants out of Egyptian after being in that foreign land for 400 years.

Zechariah was genuine and ‘upright before the Lord’. In fact, both Zechariah and Elizabeth were and they were ‘blameless’ in their observance of the Lord’s commandments. They weren’t ‘sinless’ but they were dedicated to observing the ‘Law of Moses’ and they weren’t compromisers or hypocrites. They are said to be ‘blameless’ which doesn’t mean ‘sinless’ but this is reminiscent of God’s call upon Abraham’s life (Genesis 17:1). So they represent the ‘faithful remnant’ of Israel and yet they were childless, Elizabeth was barren and they were beyond childbearing years. Zechariah and Elizabeth were representatives of the ‘faithful remnant’ and their bareness depicted Israel’s condition.

Israel was supposed to be living in their land under God’s reign, and they and their land was to be wholly dedicated to the worship of YHWH. They were to faithfully observe the Mosaic covenant and they would be ‘God’s treasured possession’ and ‘God’s holy nation’. Consequently, as God’s ‘holy nation’ they were to be a ‘light to the nations’ (Exodus 19:5-6, Isaiah 42:6). They were to be a ‘kingdom of priests’ to the nations so that the other nations desire to go up to Jerusalem and learn the ways of the God of Jacob (Isaiah 2:3).

They returned to their land under the Persians but in a sense they were still in ‘Exile’ for they were living under Roman rule. They were a colonized, oppressed people living under Pagan domination and they were longing for God to send a rescuer to deliverer them from Rome and establish God’s reign. Their temple had been rebuilt by Herod and while it was a ‘magnificent structure’ but there was no evidence that God was really returned to that ‘Temple’. There was no manifestation of God’s presence like when Moses built the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35) or when Solomon dedicated the Temple (1 Kings 8:10-11). In a sense, Zechariah and the other priests were just going through the motions and much of Israel’s formal leadership were ‘compromised collaborators’ with Rome.

⁸ As a genuine Priest, Zechariah was privileged to serve at the temple which was designed to be the ‘special place of God’s dwelling’ among his people. However, was God really in the temple? Had they grown accustom to God being absent? In the providence of God, Zechariah had been chosen by lot to burn the incense at the altar while the people were assembled outside praying (Proverbs 16:33). They would have or should have been praying for the restoration of Israel, the coming of the Messiah and the internal transformation of heart that only God could produce. 

Much to Zechariah’s surprise, when he went into the temple ¹¹ an angel of the Lord appeared to him. ¹² Zechariah saw him, and he must have been awesome because Zechariah was gripped with fear! ¹³ This angel couldn’t be mistaken for a man (Lot, Sarah); his appearance must have been overwhelming (Judges 13:6-19). The angel tells Zechariah: “Don’t be afraid, your prayers have been heard. But what prayer had been heard? Was Zechariah praying for a son, a child to take away the shame of Zechariah’s barrenness or was he praying for the restoration of Israel and the coming of Messiah?

¹³ Was Zechariah in his old age praying persistently by bringing his request for a child before God? Was he praying expectantly for God to open Elizabeth’s womb and take away the cultural shame of not having a child? If so, then why was it so hard for him to believe this ‘gospel’ when he received the news that Elizabeth would bear him a son?  Even when the magnificent Angel Gabriel appeared to him it was so hard to believe that he asked for assurance. Hadn’t God opened the womb of a barren mother to deliver Israel from the Philistines through the ‘Judge Samson’? When God was going to raise-up Israel’s king David didn’t God open Hannah’s womb to give birth to the ‘king-maker’ Samuel? Even more so, hadn’t Abraham and Sarah been given their ‘child of promise’ Isaac when they were both over 90?  Was anything impossible for God?

Wouldn’t Zechariah have been praying, as a faithful priest and as the other faithful remnant of Israel, for the ‘coming of Messiah and the ‘consolation of Israel’ (See Luke 2; Simeon, Anna)? Wouldn’t he have been praying that God would send His Messiah, to liberate Israel, to restore the temple and return to the land to restore the kingdom to Israel? Perhaps Zechariah was believing God for the fulfillment of His covenant promises, but he just couldn’t believe that he would have a son in his old age that would ‘come in the spirit and power of Elijah’ who would prepare a people for the coming of the Lord.

The angel tells Zechariah, your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to name him John. ¹⁴ John will be a joy to you, and many in Israel and ¹⁵ he will be ‘great before the Lord’. He is never to drink wine or fermented drink. He would be ‘Nazarite (Numbers 6) as Samson was supposed to be anyway. Rather, this John would be exceptional in that he would be ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ from birth. ¹⁶ This work of the Spirit in John would enable him to restore many in Israel to the Lord ¹⁷ and he will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare a people for the Lord. Zechariah’s son would be great and his greatness is seen in the greatness of his God given task so that John would be ‘great before the Lord’.

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure? I am an old man and my wife is elderly.”

¹⁸ Zechariah wanted to know ‘how he can be sure of this’ since Zechariah and Elizabeth are both elderly. ¹⁹ The angel tells Zechariah that he is Gabriel and that he stands in God’s presence. In addition, Gabriel had been sent from God’s presence to bring Zechariah this good news. ²⁰ Consequently, Zechariah would not be able to speak until the day the child is born because Zechariah didn’t believe the ‘good news’ message Gabriel had been sent from God’s presence to bring to Israel through Zechariah. ²¹ The worshippers assembled outside were wondering what was taking Zechariah so long in the temple. ²² When Zechariah did come out he was waving his hands and because he couldn’t speak, the people realized that he must have seen a vision in the temple.

²³ Zechariah finished his service in the temple, and he returned home. ²⁴ Lo and behold, Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant! Then for five months Elizabeth remained in seclusion. ²⁵ Then Elizabeth concluded that the Lord has done this for her. ²⁵ She exclaimed, “The Lord has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”